Many orthopedic procedures involve tools or other instruments that assist the surgeon during the surgery. One such instrument is the cutting guide which is used during orthopedic surgery to assist the surgeon in making proper bone cuts. Cutting guides are typically provided in the form of blocks that include slots or other guides that show the surgeon where the bone is to be cut.
Cutting guides are generally formed from a single block of material comprised of stainless steel and/or titanium or other materials used in the art. When forming the cutting guide, the block of stainless steel/titanium material is cut or otherwise shaped to provide the desired slots and other features for the block. Accordingly, cutting blocks may be formed using EDM (electrical discharge machining) procedures, milling procedures, grinding procedures, blasting procedures, as well as other procedures as will be recognized by those in the art. The cutting and grinding involved with these procedures results in scrap product that typically goes to waste following the manufacture of the cutting block.
The stainless steel/titanium material used to form cutting blocks is becoming increasingly expensive and difficult to procure. This adds a substantial cost to the process used to form the material. In addition, the orthopedic instrument market continues to evolve, and instrument designs and configurations are becoming increasingly complex. It is often difficult and expensive to produce these more complex designs using traditional cutting and grinding procedures. Furthermore, the solid stainless steel and titanium cutting blocks tend to be rather heavy, contributing to the overall weight of a surgical instrument set and tray that must be handled by operating room personnel.
In view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to provide a cutting guide that is less expensive to produce than previous cutting guides. It would also be advantageous if the manufacture of such a cutting guide resulted in less scrap. In addition, it would be advantageous if such a cutting guide could have a relatively complex design and still be manufactured with relative ease. Furthermore, it would be advantageous if such a cutting guide had a relatively light weight.
While it would be desirable to provide a cutting guide that includes one or more of the foregoing or other advantageous features as may be apparent to those reviewing this disclosure, the teachings disclosed herein extend to those embodiments which fall within the scope of the appended claims, regardless of whether they accomplish one or more of the above-mentioned advantages.